Today we’d like to introduce you to Karan Bhatnagar
Hi Karan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Wow. It’s been a journey to say the least. Well I’m from the Bay Area and have been there for most of my life so I was near the tech boom…as Silicon Valley grew up, so did I with it. I always had an interest in tech but my passion was always entertainment. From a young age, I loved movies and music and always gravitated towards that in everything I did whether that was school plays, playing the drums, or learning how to DJ.
When college came around, I fixated on my passion for entertainment and studied pre-law with the hopes of becoming an entertainment lawyer. After I graduated, I took the LSAT, applied to law school and even got into University of San Francisco. But when I went to orientation, something came over me and I just knew in my gut this wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I left in the middle of orientation and thought I threw my life away.
Luckily, I interned at Oracle for 2 summers in a row and was able to contact my old bosses to see if there were any openings. There was. I joined Oracle in May of 2016 as a Digital Marketing Specialist. I was excited but also left unsatisfied that I wasn’t able to accomplish my dream of working in the movies or music. After 3 years go by, I really started hitting rock bottom. I felt like I was a minion in corporate life and nothing I was doing mattered, nothing made an impact. This is was the second time, I knew in my gut this wasn’t what I was meant to do. This time, I was determined to make sure I get it right.
Every day for 6 months, I would network and cold email anyone that would give me an ounce of their time with the hope that my knowledge and experience within marketing and digital could be transferrable experience to a job in entertainment. Things progressed and then they didn’t and that’s when I took it into my own hands. I always loved music so I researched and read and eventually found an artist on SoundCloud that I begun managing on the side while working at Oracle. It was tough but I was confident and sure enough, we had some successes. Built up the streaming numbers, booked some festivals, made some connections and I eventually got the industry experience I needed combined with my knowledge of technology where people started taking me a bit more seriously.
In August of 2019, I moved to LA. Now fully in it, my goal was to leave Oracle and join an artist management company. At this point, my artist and I parted ways but my experience gave me a few bets to lean my hat on and I was convinced the future of music, everything that would matter in growing an artists career would be through digital and social. With that bet and mindset, I received an offer to join Three Six Zero as a digital marketing manager. During my 4 years, I worked on artist campaigns for Calvin Harris, Jaden Smith, Willow Smith, Kid Cudi, Majid Jordan, and others. I finally got what I was looking for. The chance to blend my knack for emerging tech with my passion for music. My last year as Head of Digital at Three Six Zero was last summer, when I decided to start my own company and work with talent beyond just music.
Later last year is when the perfect culmination of my career, a new opportunity arised – again, blending my love for tech and music. I joined Hook Music as a founding team member and their Head of Artist and Creator Strategy. Today, I truly believe we are at the forefront of building the next generation of music streaming, one that harnesses AI, compensates right holders, and brings fan closer to artists.
If it wasn’t for my hiccups and life experience exactly the way it happened, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work with legendary artists and creatives at Three Six Zero and now help building a truly innovative social music product.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. There were very low times. Many low times. But the struggles are what make it worth it and the struggles are what make me not want to lose it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Hook is a social music app that allows fans to remix their favorite songs legally. It might seem like a simple thing but it’s a rampant problem within the music industry for a variety of reasons, most notably that artists and labels are not being paid properly for fan made remixes on social media and now with AI, things are getting even messier.
I lead all artist strategy at Hook so I work closely with labels and management teams on building out campaigns for artists through our app that can accomplish their goals. What sets us apart is our approach. During my time at Three Six Zero, our CEO always used to say: “at the end of the day, we support our artists and accomplish what they want, no matter what.” This artist first approach is something that sits with me as a moral guiding compass allowing me to discern things and when I met the team at Hook, I knew they stood by the same moral compass. This product took 3 years to build because it was done with care and vigilance, and that’s what separates us from the pack. That’s what separates us from other tech companies using AI to exploit artists and labels.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Email us at [email protected]. I’m personally always open to connecting with new people so feel free to message me on LinkedIn and I probably will respond.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hookmusic.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhatnagarkaran/
